The Edgecomb selectmen have no interest owning the Edgecomb Baptist Church or the adjacent cemetery. Tindal & Callahan real estate agent Emilie Hawke inquired during the Sept. 13 board meeting whether the town would pursue any claims on the 1.4 acre property located on Old County Road.

The selectmen told her they have no intent in pursuing any ownership claim on the property. Hawke attended the meeting seeking clarification.

“We won’t pursue any action to become the property’s owner. We discussed what to do with the property but nothing was ever resolved,” said Selectman Jack Sarmanian.

In recent years, the town has maintained the cemetery. But the selectmen believed that once the property is sold, the new owners should assume that responsibility and they had no intention of pursuing any legal ownership of the church or cemetery.

”We took over the cemetery maintenance over neglect, not want. It’s not a lifelong commitment. There is no requirement on our part to continue,” said Selectman Mike Smith.

According to town officials, the facility has not been used as a church for the last five to 10 years. Hawke, who represents the Grace Baptist Church in Chelsea, made the inquiry due to a December 2013 Wiscasset Newspaper article. Three years ago, the Grace Baptist Church negotiated with a resident to sell the property, but the negotiations stalled.

The title search revealed the town originally bought the property in the 1860s, according to a December 2013 Wiscasset Newspaper article. The property has changed ownership several times over the years. According to former Selectman Stuart Smith, each transaction was a “handshake deal” and a clear title was not transferred.

The 2013 title search showed ownership goes back to the last entity to deal any money for the church, which was Edgecomb, which leaves the town under state law as the property’s legal owner.

In recent weeks, Grace Baptist Church has been preparing the building for sale. Hawke described the church as being empty except for the pews. She will inform Grace Baptist Church officials of the town’s decision not to assume ownership of the church or cemetery.

In other action, the selectmen voted unanimously to accept Ted Berry Co.’s $21,750 proposal to inspect, clean and test the strength of the Davis Island sewer line. The Livermore company will begin work in mid-October and the project is expected to last two to three days, according to Sarmanian.

The board also directed Smith to continue snow plowing negotiations with Scott Griffin, who has performed the task for years. Griffin is also the town’s elected road commissioner.

“He is familiar with our 31 miles of roads and he’s done a good job as road commissioner and plowing the roads. I rarely hear any complaints, in fact, the opposite is true. I hear more compliments than complaints about the roads.”

The selectmen expect to decide whether to continue contracting with Griffin or put the job out to bid by November.

The selectmen will meet next at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 26 in the municipal building.